Eco Femme is a social enterprise; with a tagline, ‘revaluing menstruation because life depends on it’. They sell washable cloth pads, provide menstrual health education to adolescents, and open dialogue on menstruation.
In a bid to spread awareness on Menstrual Hygiene Day, the enterprise is all set to host a three-day event for the same at Aura Shoppe and Cafe. “On May 26 and 27, we will set up a public stall in Puducherry that displays various kinds of menstrual products while highlighting issues of disposing sanitary napkins and sustainable menstruation. We will also invite people to write about what menstruation means to them on ribbons provided at the venue,” says Kathy Walking, co-founder of Eco Femme.
The two days will lead up to a screening, held on May 28, which is acknowledged as Menstrual Hygiene Day. “After the screening, we will have conversations at the venue to engage in a dialogue with the public.” The documentary, written and directed by Diana Fabiánová, opens with her interviewing men on the street about menstruation, who weren’t comfortable to talk. This is exactly the taboo they are seeking to remove from everyone’s minds through the documentary. “It’s looking at menstruation on a deeper level: how menstruation is a cyclical experience and maybe there’s more to it than what meets the eye. We prefer to treat it like it’s out of sight out of mind but this film invites us to think about this relationship of denial,” says Walking.
They are also hosting a creative competition where they are inviting submissions speaking about ‘Menstruation is…’. These can be in the form of poetry, art, song, film or any kind of creative piece. The videos/audio recordings should be within a minute. They can be sent by mail to info@ecofemme.org by May 25. Walking says, “What we’re hoping to do through this creative competition is to open up this dark portal and let people reflect deeply and freely about it,” she adds, “At Eco Femme, we are trying to do is reframing the topic of menstruation, giving it a dignified and rightful place. We feel this subject has been largely ignored.”
The event will be held at Aura Shoppe and Cafe, Goubert Avenue, Beach Road, Puducherry on May 26 and 27 from 5 pm to 8.30 pm. The documentary, The Moon Inside You , will be screened at Unity Pavillion in Auroville on May 28 at 5.30 pm. For more details, call 9487179556.
